Shrugging off a summer’s downtrend, the cryptocurrency industry saw new all-time highs across the board in early October. Bitcoin itself rose to $66,974, a considerable increase over the previous high of $64,829 set in April. Several factors played into the sudden price spike, not least of which is the tacit approval of a Bitcoin futures ETF by US regulators. The Securities and Exchange Commission chose to allow the ETF, opening the door to an entire slew of previously inaccessible investment vehicles.
Exchange-traded funds allow traditional investors to include Bitcoin exposure in their portfolios. The ProShares Bitcoin futures ETF now trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BITO. As a direct result, over $1.47 billion flooded the cryptocurrency market and related investments – including BITO. While not directly investing in Bitcoin, the availability of an ETF on traditional exchanges brings many new investors to the space.
SEC Relents, Allowing Futures-Based Bitcoin ETF
Despite their past track record, the SEC finally allowed ProShare’s ETF. Comments by regulators suggest that the added protections associated with a futures ETF made the approval possible. While not trading directly on the price of Bitcoin, the ETF is afoot in the door for future products – one that will likely see a slew of new methods for investing.
Grayscale’s Bitcoin Fund has already filed to modify their current, long-standing Bitcoin fund into a direct ETF – a process that would help alleviate the known discrepancy between GBTC and the true value of Bitcoin. Further, an Ethereum future ETF could easily follow BITO, given Ether’s long-standing second-place status.
Bitcoin Hits New All-Time High
After April’s high, Bitcoin dropped as low as $29,000 and languished in the $40k range for much of the summer. That ended with October’s arrival, seeing Bitcoin spike to a new all-time high of $66,974 on October 20th. Many altcoins also saw new ATHs in the immediate aftermath, pushing the market into healthily green territory.
The early year rise, followed by a slow summer and an autumn spike almost directly correlate to the legendary 2017 bull run – suggesting that there may be more to come. In 2017, the market did not peak until December. If the similarities continue, some analysts believe Bitcoin could hit a 6-digit value before 2022.
